The present invention relates to cutting wheels for grinders that grind items such as lumber, logs, construction debris and the like.
Such cutting wheels are used in grinders to grind debris in situations that include large-scale clearing after natural disasters and at construction sites. The cutting wheel, although termed a cutting wheel, is in actuality a cylindrical wheel comprised of a number of discrete plates, each plate including at least one cutting head. Due to the type of debris being ground, the wheels have to be quite sturdy since the grinding operation includes grinding of objects such as wood, yard waste, construction debris, storm damage, and mill scraps.
The cutting wheel includes cutting heads that are positioned between the plates. The plates with cutting heads are then secured to each other to form the cylindrical grinding wheel. The cutting heads are staggered with respect to each extending beyond the periphery of the plates for an efficient cutting/grinding design.
Due to the variety of materials being ground, problems arise with debris becoming lodged between adjacent cutting heads. Debris becomes lodged even though the heads may be somewhat staggered circumferentially. The lodged debris results in more energy having to be used to maintain a selected rotational speed of the grinding wheel for efficient grinding. Eventually, enough debris becomes lodged between the cutting heads that the lodged material prevents other material from reaching the blades. The grinding wheel has to be stopped and manually cleared which is time consuming.